<div align="center">#33: Detroit Falcons at Montreal Militia</div>

<div align="center"> 6-4 </div>

Game Link

The Detroit Road Show heads to Montreal to face the Militia, a battle of two of the weaker teams to start SMJHL S30. Behind a three-point night from Hans Moleman, the Falcons picked up a crucial road victory in a 6-4 offensive explosion.

MONTREAL, Que. :: In a battle of the bottom two teams in the SMJHL’s East division, the Detroit Falcons outlasted the Montreal Militia for a 6-4 victory.

Hans Moleman led the way for the Falcons, involved in half of the team’s six goals. The leading point-getter from last season’s Detroit squad, Moleman scored a second period goal and added two assists on the evening.

Detroit overcame abysmal special teams play to secure the victory. All of Montreal’s goals came with a man advantage, as the Militia converted on four of their six power play opportunities. Meanwhile, the Detroit power play - the worst in the league entering the game - struck paydirt just once in five tries.

The Falcons struck first in the contest, as Alexis Metzler scored 3:25 into the game. Montreal quickly equalized, as Cleo Green’s tenth career goal leveled the game. Kaspars Berzins and Alex Kepka both notched goals for Detroit to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead before Green struck again with 3:58 remaining in the first period to cut the edge in half.

Montreal tied the game once more 8:33 into the second period on Laraque Obama’s goal. However, the Militia’s backs were broken as Detroit scored three consecutive goals in the second period. Alex Berkis, Cikgnar Konstantinov, and Moleman all lit the lamp in the second period

This three-goal blitz chased Stephen Harris out of the Militia net, giving way for Jeff Kirkstone. Kirkstone saved 14 of the 15 shots he faced in 24 minutes of action, but the damage had already been done.

Montreal drew one goal closer in the third period, as Johnny Watson scored his second goal of the season. However, Detroit netminder Jeremy Anderson saved 13 of the 14 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes to preserve the victory.


Q&A with Detroit's Alexis Metzler

Q1: Congratulations on your first career goal in the SMJHL. What was your emotions and reaction to that moment?

It's pretty cool. I've had a couple in the pre-season and a few assists, but nothing for keeps yet. Everyone was fired up that we got the first goal tonight, the advantage is really important mentally and helps re-enforce the idea that tonight's going to be a good one.

Q2: You also assisted on the power play goal in the second period. Your team won tonight despite pretty poor special teams play. Moving forward, what adjustments do you need to make to improve both on the power play and the penalty kill?

I know the penalty kill wasn't great tonight- normally, we're a lot better than that. The long term probably has really been the power play; I know I've not managed to personally make much of a contribution on it. We've simply got to keep practising and keep building a more dynamic powerplay plan, and eventually we'll see results.

Q3: It's been a slow start to the regular season for Detroit, but the team looked very promising in the preseason. Do you think a win like tonight's can help put the team back on the right track, or are there still issues that need to be settled before this team can win consistently?

Wins are always important. I know we're not that far off track right now; we're still 2nd in the east after tonight, and there's no reason why we can't do this every night. I don't put it down to drama; half the team still only has about 30 games in the SMJHL. We're all trying to work together to understand each other better to get better results on the ice. I don't see any reason why we can't score 6 goals every night when we all finally click together.

Three Stars

Third Star - Alexis Metzler, Detroit: The rookie defenseman notched his first career goal and threw in an assist for good measure.

Second Star - Cleo Green, Montreal: Oddly enough, the only two-goal scorer in a game that featured ten scores. Green did his damage in less than 13 minutes of ice team.

First Star - Hans Moleman, Detroit: A three-point night for the pride of Springfield, USA led the way for the Falcons.

Notebook

First Time for Everything: Three players scored their first career goals in the offensive extravaganza. Along with Metzler, the 15th overall pick in the S30 SMJHL entry draft, Cikgnar Konstantinov and Laraque Obama earned their first professional goals. Konstantinov was a third-round selection for Detroit, while Montreal signed Obama as a free agent following the draft.

See You Again: After a day off, these two teams will meet again in Detroit. Only time will tell how that meeting will go.

Bouncing Back: After a pair of poor starts, Detroit stuck with rookie Jeremy Anderson in net over veteran Sivy McSieve. Anderson rewarded the team for its patience, making 26 of 30 saves in the game. Anderson improved to 4-2-0 on the season with tonight’s victory.